Okay, I know this is a "As long as a piece of string" thing - but, but what damage and when will it happen if I use my beloved XM2 as a search and capture VCR? Has anybody been using the XM2 for prolonged usage? What damage can I think of incurring? What would be the repair bill be? Would it equate to anything like the potential £900+ cost for a Sony type or Panasonic type of miniDV workhorse VCR - oh the nearest Pana is around £1500. I've seen the JVC dual VHS and miniDV combo - that's about £650GBp.

So there you have it!

Any other solutions besides purchasing a "cheapo" miniDV cammy just for search and capture work? I've seen a Sony 5½ pc bay miniDV draw. Anybody used these? Could I knock up an external box just for this Sony pc bay tray box?

Grazie

Graham

That little Sony deck that fits in a computer drive bay is expensive, tiny, slow, and very delicate. I would advise against it. Any other Sony 1-CCD camcorder would make a better playback deck than that and it'd be less expensive. But to answer your question, there'sa nothing wrong with using your XM2 as a search and capture VCR. Some purists may gasp at such a bold statement, but the reality is that unless you're using the thing in the edit suite eight hours a day seven days a week, you're not going to hurt it. If you are planning on that much wear and tear, then a "real" DV deck is advisable, such as a Panasonic DV1000, DV2000 or any number of JVC decks. Another alternative is to pick up an inexpensive 1CCD camcorder such as the Canon ZR60, less than USD$500, don't know how much it is your side of the pond, and use that as a deck. Hope this helps,

You reasssured me on using the XM2 as a VCR. In reality I use it in conjunction with Sony - yes Sony now! - SoFo Vegas. SSFV has a neat Batch capture. This allows me to review, flag which clips I want to capture, set up a batch list and then send of Vegas to go GET!! Of course this intails it using the XM2 to go backwards and forwards, find the correct t/c and then going ahead and capturing that item. Then off it goes again and locates the next item and so on and so on . . . This is the typical type of capturing I'm doing. So, hence my concern. And then of course Printing To Tape - at the end of the editing process - yeah? See any problems so far?

Thanks for the heads up on the Sony miniDV bay-tray deck.

Yes I've been "drooling" over the Panasonic DV1000, DV2000. A wee bit expensive - £1000+ GBps. The JVC duallies are a bit cheaper. How do they - the JVCs - perform? At around £700gbs there seems to be a bit more attractiveness for me. ANybody using these?

Yes, I do understand about using a bespoke box, if I get to the heady heights of editing 24:7. Not at the moment though.

Thanks again Chris,

Grazie